EU Set to Fine Apple 500 Million

In Europe, a fine of 500 million euros is speculated to be imposed on the tech behemoth, Apple, as stated in the Financial Times, a leading financial publication.

The Financial Times has reportedly gathered information regarding the impending fine on Tieto from sources closely associated with the matter.

The source further mentioned that, according to the commission, Apple has placed a limitation on consumers’ access to music streaming services, thereby violating the competition regulations set by the Union. This has resulted in a distortion of competition in the music streaming services market.

Alongside, the Commission has also leveled accusations against Apple of abusing its dominant position and employing anti-competitive practices against its competitors.

This would mark the first instance of the EU levying a fine on Apple on grounds of breaching competition norms.

In the previous year of 2020, Apple faced a fine of 1.1 billion euros in France due to its anti-competitive practices. However, after an appeal, the fine was reduced to 372 million euros.

The EU commenced an investigation into Apple’s business practices after receiving a complaint from Spotify, a Swedish music streaming service, against Apple in 2019.

The investigation aimed to uncover if Apple had been barring applications from notifying iPhone users about cheaper music streaming services obtainable outside the App Store.

In 2021, the EU officially charged Apple with anti-competitive practices. However, in the subsequent year, the Commission narrowed down the range of the investigation and dismissed the charge related to the mandatory usage of their in-app payment system by developers.

This January, Apple made an announcement about altering the EU’s requirement for downloading applications on devices, like iPhones, for instance. From now on, applications can be downloaded from places other than the Apple App Store.

This change necessitates the user to first download the new store’s program on their phone via the web, post which applications and their add-ons can be procured from within that program. Nevertheless, Apple still possesses the right to pre-examine the transaction to ensure there is no violation of its privacy norms.

Spotify has expressed its views on these changes, terming them as “a complete farce”.

Apple is implementing this change as a response to the EU’s digital market regulations, which mandate that consumers should be able to switch service providers and directly use services. This change will only be applicable to the European Union, hence, for countries outside the EU, only the App Store will be available going forward. This revision is expected to come into effect in March this year.

It is anticipated that the official declaration of the fines will be made in March. Both the European Commission and Apple have not provided any comment on this matter to the Financial Times.